Jennifer Howard
General Information Jennifer Howard was a Dranish politician (Grand National Party) and former Prime Minister (3314-3318). She also formerly served as Chairwoman of the Grand National Party and leader of the opposition (3318-3322). She also served as 1st Councillor of the Congress for Liberty, an influential international political force committed to spreading freedom, human rights and democracy. Life and Politics Originally from Iglesia Mayor, Jennifer Howard moved to Soyolango in 3292 after having studied literature and arts at the First Private Dranian University. From 3292 to 3295, she wrote her habilitation to become entitled to teach at universities and colleges. When she passed the ensuing exam in 3295, she started to work at the Soyolango City College, where she taught philosophy as a guest professor until 3297. In this year, she quit her job and was elected to the City Council of Soyolango as a member of the GNP. She subsequently became councillor for education and culture, a position which she held until 3303, when she was elected to the federal Parliament. As an MP, Howard first acted as her party's spokeswoman for education and culture. In that position, she helped to organize Dranland's contribution to the The Inaugral Terran Decennial Festival of Modern Art, held in Solentia. Two years later, when Prime Minister Eric Crawford retreated in favor of Mario Lavazza, the cabinet was reshuffled and Howard became Minister for Education and Culture in the federal government. In that position, her first act was to propos legislation to allow individual students to opt-out from sexual education at school. Due to his, she is thought to be an exponent of the conservative wing of the GNP. In April 3306, she became Deputy Chairwoman of the GNP, serving alongside Clarice Jones and Hans Kaltenberg. After GNP Chairman Mario Lavazzascoredthe party's worst ever result in the elections of September 3307, Howard replaced him and is set to become Dranland's next Prime Minister. However, the cabinet reshuffling attempt was not approved by the Parliament, leaving Lavazza in office. In the ensuing years, she was considered the de facto Prime Minister due to the unpopularity and damaged credibility of Mario Lavazza. In the elections of 3212, she could not consolidate the GNP and lost votes and seats again. After her failed attempt to reshuffle the cabinet and assuming the position of Prime Minister in 3314, she urged Mario Lavazza and the other GNP ministers to resign from their positions to enforce a cabinet renewal. She also resigned as education minister herself. This step led to the formation of a caretaker GNP-PGR minority cabinet which was also accepted by the opposition, with her as Prime Minister. She managed to score a political coup by installing the meritorious former president Rev Tobias Clarke as foreign minister, which was slammed by the UP. However, several setbacks ensued, as the opposition managed to repeal some of the GNP's small government policies and replacing them with welfare measures. The GNP therefore campaigned on an agenda pledging to repeal the UP's reforms if the government acquired a majority in the elections of December 3316. After the elections, she remained in power with her minority government, however the GNP could no longer stop the leftist opposition from introducing reforms in all areas after the collapse of the junior coalition partner PGR. In the the snap elections of 3318, the GNP scored very well, but did not acquire a result good enough to form a government. Therefore, the GNP was ousted from power and Howard became opposition leader. She led the GNP to a narrow victory over the Unity party in the elections of 3322, making it the largest party ever since 3308. However, the results meant a draw between the leftist government and the rightist opposition. When snap polls were held after the collapse of the PLA in September 3322, Howard led her party to a decisive victory, winning 44% of the votes on a federal and three out of five governorships on a local level. Nevertheless, the government retained a majority of seats, meaning that she could not become Prime Minister again. Therefore, she resigned as party leader and was succeeded by Edward Heyworth. After her retirement, she did not interfere in politics a lot, except during the celebrations in honor of Sir Tobias Clarke of Solentia and during a dispute between PAC Chairman Marcos Barrantes and Charlene Goodwill (GNP) where she felt attacked by the former. Apart from that, she supported a potential involvement of Dranland in a CfL military alliance which was never realized as the according treaty was never ratified. Howard personally attended the inauguration of Marina LeCoultre, the first GNP Prime Minister after 47 years of Unity-led administrations in 3365, when she was already in her mid-nineties. Howard was a popular figure among conservative and traditionalist GNP members, and she was called a "hero of hers" by Internal Minister Delia Breckinridge who took over the GNP leadership in 3381 and wanted to shift the party further to the right. She and Howard met shortly before the latter's death in 3382. According to many GNP politicians, she is considered an icon by many party members second only to the likes of Larissa LeCoultre and Hans Kaltenberg. Congress for Liberty In 3331, she was elected to the Executive Council of the Congress for Liberty (CfL), an aspiring international organization striving to promote democracy, freedom and human rights throughout Terra. Howard stated that she wished to focus on the establishment of military structures within the CfL to ensure the capability of interventions for humanitarian causes. Category:Dranian people Category:Conservative Category:Grand National Party (Dranland) politicians Category:GNP leaders